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Son Starts Hating Mom’s Cooking After Tasting Veggies At Dad’s House, She Threatens Full Custody
To eat meat, or not to eat – that is the question. They say you are what you eat, but apparently, in some households, what your kid eats can launch a full-scale custody battle.
From broccoli-based blowups to tofu tantrums, food feuds can get spicy, especially when one parent thinks lentils are love and the other says quinoa is a crime against humanity.
That’s exactly what happened to one Reddit dad who was just trying to raise a healthy, happy kid, while his ex insisted that anything without meat is basically malnourishment.
More info: Reddit
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Some families fight over money, others fight over chickpeas and broccoli
Image credits: weyo / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One vegan dad gets threatened with custody by his meat-loving ex for feeding their son plant-based food while he is at his house
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The man feeds the 5-year-old a lot of veggies, which he loves, plus some fish cooked by his wife, while mom mostly feeds him meat and potatoes
Image credits: ThrowawayVegana
The ex accuses dad of malnourishing their son by feeding him “rabbit food” instead of “nutritious” meat
The OP (original poster), a devoted vegan dad, shares custody of his 5-year-old son with his ex, who firmly believes in the holy trinity of meat, milk, and potatoes. His current wife is a pescatarian, so when the kid’s at their house, dinner ranges from chickpea curry to grilled salmon. Nothing too wild – just your average plant-based-powered parenting with the occasional fish taco.
And guess what? The kid loves it! He enjoys the veggie-based meals and has even started to complain when he’s at his mom’s house, where it’s mostly chicken, pork, and potatoes on repeat. Sounds like a healthy palate, right – veggies at dad’s, meat at mom’s? Well, mom sure doesn’t think so. Apparently, steamed veggies and meatless dinners are an act of war in this co-parenting dynamic.
The ex accused the OP of “malnourishing” their son and claimed he’s “forcing his beliefs” on the poor child, all because he isn’t feeding him steak every other night. But the ironic thing is that the kid’s only complaints have been against the meat-heavy meals at her house, not the juicy veggies at dad’s.
So, when the OP suggested to his ex that she mix in more veggies to balance things out, she went full courtroom-drama mode. She threatened to take the OP to court and push for full custody over his “rabbit food.” Yup, we’ve officially entered the “custody over carrots” phase.
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Now, I’m not saying that every 5-year-old should be a mini vegan influencer, but according to actual registered dietitians, plant-based diets can be totally safe for kids, as long as they’re well planned. The American Dietetic Association supports appropriately planned vegetarian and vegan diets for all stages of life, including infancy and childhood.
Key nutrients like B12, iron, calcium, and omega-3s do need attention, but they’re not exclusive to animal products. Fortified foods, supplements and plant sources can fill those gaps just fine. Add in some fish a couple nights a week, and you’re even covering DHA for brain development.
So, unless this dad is serving his son a sad pile of iceberg lettuce and calling it dinner, he’s not doing anything wrong, nutritionally or legally, especially since the kid also eats fish and meat at his mom’s house. And his ex? Well, instead of listening to their child’s preferences, she’s threatening to blow the whole thing up over bell peppers and beans.
That’s not a great way to co-parent your kid, now is it? Co-parenting means compromise, not culinary ultimatums. Parenting from two households doesn’t mean you need matching grocery lists – just matching goals. The pros say the key is communication, consistency, a pinch of compromise, and focusing on the child’s needs, not your own wishes.
Talk about schedules, bedtime and meals beforehand, agree on a few nutritional must-haves, and maybe resist the urge to freak out if the other house serves tofu. As long as the kid is happy, healthy, and not secretly feeding dinner to the dog, that’s a win. At the end of the day, if a 5-year-old wants more broccoli, well, that sounds like a huge parenting win, not a legal emergency.
What do you think of this story? Are you on team broccoli or team chicken? Drop your comments below!
Netizens side with the man, saying it seems like his son is eating a well-balanced diet
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
What do you think ?
Tabitha 9 months ago
With all the parents desperately trying to get their kids to eat vegetables, this lady is b******g because her son voluntarily wants more fresh veggies? Now you know this is only a custody tactic on her part. If they were still married, she’d be overjoyed that her son likes his vegetables.
Lila Allen 9 months ago
Seriously I knew someone whose parents thought veggies were gross so she grew up and had never eaten a single vegetable. Literally never. She would scrape lettuce and tomato off a burger to avoid touching the ick. GO figure she grew up with severe health issues and ended up wheelchair bound due to her health problems
Load More Replies...
Uncle Panda 9 months ago
She's still angry about the divorce and is using her child to keep that going.
arthbach 9 months ago
Instead of going to court, why not go to a paediatric dietetic specialist. Each parent would keep a food diary for the child, showing what he eat for a month. Then the trained specialist could look at it and give their professional judgement. . . . . Then the child's mother could go to court screaming about how the dietician was bribed to make her look bad. :o)
SkyBlueandBlack 9 months ago
You didn't read it? He said his son had some food allergies, so he's been keeping a diary for a few years.
Load More Replies...
Big Chungus 9 months ago
My son is like this, he goes through phases of only eating meat or only eating veggies. He double fists some good broccoli lol I would be happy if my kid requested more veggies and guess what! there are other sources of protein besides meat
Sparkle 9 months ago (edited)
So here's my theory and all this diet stuff for kids he obviously sees a pediatrician and when he sees the pediatrician if there was a true problem it would be mentioned. Also so what did the kid wants more veggies than meat they could be complaining about wanting sugar! The dad is giving a completely reasonable idea of giving more veggies but still providing meat. Perhaps the mom should ask the dad for the recipe or the way he makes the veggies that way the kid may be more willing to eat the meat as well.
abbie allbee 9 months ago
Nta. The judge will just laugh at her. Hopefully they will see that she is the wack job.
Ravioli 9 months ago
If the kid is getting meat at her house, he is probably getting enough. Still, both their diets aren't good for the kid, only meat and potatoes isn't good and a vegan diet isn't good for a kid, sorry, any restrictive diet of any kind isn't good for a kid, kids need to eat everything, veggies, meat eggs and dairy and fruit. Vegan can be very tasty because it's a very carb heavy diet and prob why the kids like it, but it's close to impossible to get all the amino acids needed to form a full protein with vegetables alone and the kid needs a lot of proteins as he is growing, he surely needs high quality proteins like chicken and eggs. These two instead of acting like idiots, should forget their beliefs and just go to a g*****n nutrionist to get a good diet for the kid, one without stupid restrictions.
barbara Nivens 9 months ago
Smdh...🤦 Would love to be in court for this 🤗 Hubby was a meat and potato guy when we met. We were laughing about it eating our oven roasted brussel sprouts for dinner tonight. We eat meat but more veggies and salads now. Grated some Parm/regg on top after, yummy.
Damned_Cat 9 months ago
I'd love to be there when mom tells the judge she wants full custody because her son has learned to eat better and more nutritious food at his dad's house.
nottheactualphoto 9 months ago
Try to convince the mother that she should sue in food court. I'll see myself out.
Tonyah Mcanelly 9 months ago
I don't see the issue because he's getting the protein from the meat at his moms and nutrients from veggies at his dads . This woman just wants an excuse to get custody and suing for custody because the kid likes veggies is a little extreme
Rosie Hamilton 9 months ago (edited)
It's a problem as the child doesn't like the food at his mother's and possibly isn't getting enough veggies every other week. Sure, that won't k!ll (bloody bp censors) him and neither will not liking the food much. Bit sad really though.
Load More Replies... Tabitha 9 months ago
With all the parents desperately trying to get their kids to eat vegetables, this lady is b******g because her son voluntarily wants more fresh veggies? Now you know this is only a custody tactic on her part. If they were still married, she’d be overjoyed that her son likes his vegetables.
Lila Allen 9 months ago
Seriously I knew someone whose parents thought veggies were gross so she grew up and had never eaten a single vegetable. Literally never. She would scrape lettuce and tomato off a burger to avoid touching the ick. GO figure she grew up with severe health issues and ended up wheelchair bound due to her health problems
Load More Replies... Uncle Panda 9 months ago
She's still angry about the divorce and is using her child to keep that going.
arthbach 9 months ago
Instead of going to court, why not go to a paediatric dietetic specialist. Each parent would keep a food diary for the child, showing what he eat for a month. Then the trained specialist could look at it and give their professional judgement. . . . . Then the child's mother could go to court screaming about how the dietician was bribed to make her look bad. :o)
SkyBlueandBlack 9 months ago
You didn't read it? He said his son had some food allergies, so he's been keeping a diary for a few years.
Load More Replies... Big Chungus 9 months ago
My son is like this, he goes through phases of only eating meat or only eating veggies. He double fists some good broccoli lol I would be happy if my kid requested more veggies and guess what! there are other sources of protein besides meat
Sparkle 9 months ago (edited)
So here's my theory and all this diet stuff for kids he obviously sees a pediatrician and when he sees the pediatrician if there was a true problem it would be mentioned. Also so what did the kid wants more veggies than meat they could be complaining about wanting sugar! The dad is giving a completely reasonable idea of giving more veggies but still providing meat. Perhaps the mom should ask the dad for the recipe or the way he makes the veggies that way the kid may be more willing to eat the meat as well.
abbie allbee 9 months ago
Nta. The judge will just laugh at her. Hopefully they will see that she is the wack job.
Ravioli 9 months ago
If the kid is getting meat at her house, he is probably getting enough. Still, both their diets aren't good for the kid, only meat and potatoes isn't good and a vegan diet isn't good for a kid, sorry, any restrictive diet of any kind isn't good for a kid, kids need to eat everything, veggies, meat eggs and dairy and fruit. Vegan can be very tasty because it's a very carb heavy diet and prob why the kids like it, but it's close to impossible to get all the amino acids needed to form a full protein with vegetables alone and the kid needs a lot of proteins as he is growing, he surely needs high quality proteins like chicken and eggs. These two instead of acting like idiots, should forget their beliefs and just go to a g*****n nutrionist to get a good diet for the kid, one without stupid restrictions.
barbara Nivens 9 months ago
Smdh...🤦 Would love to be in court for this 🤗 Hubby was a meat and potato guy when we met. We were laughing about it eating our oven roasted brussel sprouts for dinner tonight. We eat meat but more veggies and salads now. Grated some Parm/regg on top after, yummy.
Damned_Cat 9 months ago
I'd love to be there when mom tells the judge she wants full custody because her son has learned to eat better and more nutritious food at his dad's house.
nottheactualphoto 9 months ago
Try to convince the mother that she should sue in food court. I'll see myself out.
Tonyah Mcanelly 9 months ago
I don't see the issue because he's getting the protein from the meat at his moms and nutrients from veggies at his dads . This woman just wants an excuse to get custody and suing for custody because the kid likes veggies is a little extreme
Rosie Hamilton 9 months ago (edited)
It's a problem as the child doesn't like the food at his mother's and possibly isn't getting enough veggies every other week. Sure, that won't k!ll (bloody bp censors) him and neither will not liking the food much. Bit sad really though.
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